Post by Deleted on May 26, 2015 14:09:06 GMT -8
PLEASANTREDFORDSPENCE
<<Played by Biscuiteer>>
Shine a light through an open door
Full Name>> Pleasant Redford Spence
Nicknames>> Nope, just "Pleasant."
Age>> Born on 1 December, 35 Y/O
Staff or Student>> Staff, Driving Teach & Barn Hand
House>> N/A
Gender>> Dude
Sexuality>> Panromantic borderline-Asexual
Face Claim>> Eddie Redmayne
Turn away 'cause I need you more
Personality>> Pleasant, as a presence, is sharp and searing as a heated horseshoe nail. He may not look the part right away--he has a resting expression that tends to translate as "dumb hick"--but he's exceptionally self-aware and confident, at best possessing a decent grip on himself and, therefore, how he is perceived by others. He's a good actor--Pleasant usually behaves in a way that presents him as a difficult read, even intimidating to the suspicious, the shy, the socially anxious. Unpredictable. 0-180 in nothing flat. This doesn't last, at least not forever, especially if he takes a liking to someone.
Then it only gets worse, only you'll gradually be able to see the signs, to tell what's happening (or you'll think that you can) and it'll probably be absolutely infuriating. That's how he either endears people to him or drives them up the wall; takes them and makes them either his lover or his enemy. There is no in-between with Pleasant, no middle ground--you're forced to either love or hate him, and usually the two are interchangeable. Pleasant is, after all, a "kid brother"--he's always had to fight for validation and he's always felt it his personal mission to test, tease and unease the people around him. He has a strong personality and a habit of stressing his mark on every person who enters his environment.
Yeah, he's a little bit of a crazy man. He fancies it's healthy to keep people on their toes--it always kept Ma in good spirits, Dad alert (in the early years) and his brothers ready to beat the shit out of anyone who got butthurt enough to retaliate. Pleasant is pretty harmless if you've got it in you to stomach him. He loves people, he really does, because he knows them. He's savvy. He holds those around him to high standards, but encourages them along the way. He doesn't place people on pedestals, and forgives them fairly easily if they make silly mistakes. He's very generous, too, with money, time, affection. He likes to make people laugh (especially at themselves), loves kids and animals, and volunteers regularly for those that find themselves in a bit of a rough patch. His loyalty may be a bit shaky, a result of both his upbringing and his tendency to operate by intuition rather than logic, but he tries his best. He does good work for his earnings, and nothing grinds him more than a job done poorly.
Pleasant is kind of a hard pill to swallow, though. You can't please everyone, right? And some people just aren't happy unless they're fighting life and the people around them tooth-and-nail. Mr. Spence is kind of in-between. He can be a bit domineering, a bit "closed case" about his opinions and values, and he has the capacity to become, frankly, a bully. It's no secret that he likes to play mind games, although it takes a certain person to recognize it. The "crazy man" routine has a chance of intensifying, should he find himself (or any "decent" person in his party or presence) antagonized. While Pleasant himself has finally matured past going out of his way to provoke people who have even the slightest scent of discontent with his regards, he still has his temper. It's kept him alive in the past, after all, in those rare instances when he found himself alone, stuck between a rock and a hard place. He can fly off of the handle pretty fast, and there's nothing glamorous about it when it happens; because he is not a trained fighter accustomed to structure in these instances, he handles confrontations that deteriorate into physical brawls like a wild animal with the need to survive by any means necessary. Pleasant has to be monitored when he decides to drink, too. Keep an eye on him, then, because if you thought he was a hard read, sober, the addition of alcohol makes it impossible even for the people closest to him to anticipate him. A good buzz is really all he needs (and he's usually good enough to know when to stop, himself, nowadays), because drinking any further than that tends to turn a generally pleasant, silly, lovable Southern beau into someone who is downright nasty.
Likes>> Working, driving his team, the outdoors, balmy weather, jokes and pranks, laughter (he always knows a person by their laughter), telling stories (true or otherwise, and it's nigh impossible to tell with Pleasant), "good, strong and honest" folk, kids, animals, cooking, a drink here and there, (playful) banter, simplicity
Dislikes>> Idle time ("There's never an excuse for boredom."), busywork (he likes to be busy and he likes to work, but he doesn't like to be stuck performing mindless or pointless tasks), South shaming (any kind of "shaming culture," really), sex culture, the power of money over society, people who take themselves (and most things) too seriously, prejudice, when things are made excessively complicated, abuse/neglect, especially of animals and children, superiority, most authority figures and anyone who demands respect without earning it, first, trains, shoes (unless they're boots)
Fears>> Losing his self-control and killing someone, himself, in a sense, especially when he drinks, being incarcerated indefinitely, prolonged suffering (mental and physical), fear itself
Hopes>> To stay true to his roots and himself no matter what, to always have something to do and contribute, to never lose the spice in life
Secrets>> As a rule, Pleasant doesn't really believe in secrets. In the close-knit little places he grew up in, even when he and his family stayed for little more than a few months, secrets were spilt beans in no time. There are, however, certain things that just never surface in any conversation (not even confidentially), such as Pleasant's criminal record, some things that happened to him when he was young and free (and, consequentially, more vulnerable), his parent's general negligence and how unhappy he can actually feel about his life in general and some of his own choices. Pleasant has a habit of brushing things off and overdressing his past, making it look better than it really was, even glamorous, and himself sometimes stronger than any person should have to reasonably be.
It’s the way I’m feeling I just can’t deny
Appearance>> Pleasant is tall and lean, fit in a way that suggests almost definitely a tight-running metabolism coupled with a living made by hard labor (because it sure isn't attributed to frugal eating habits). He's got a good head of red-brown hair that he keeps short and otherwise unkempt; a pair of sly, hazel eyes and freckles! Oh, those freckles. They're everywhere, although his work and affinity for the outdoors tend to (literally, sunburn) outshine them, along with his being inherently fair-skinned. He usually has either a farmer's tan or the telling pattern of an undershirt. Pleasant is still young, but habits and elements have already started to show in the elasticity of his skin, especially around the eyes--laughter lines. Loads of them. He looks a little bit like a dullard, first-glance, what with his sleepy eyelids that are perpetually half-squinting, shielding his eyes from the sun (regardless of whether or not it's out to shine). Pleasant is, however, exceptionally expressive, so his mild, slack (minus the squint) resting look tends to be fleeting. His nose looks a little bit like it's been broken at least once, if you look at him straight-on, and he inherited his mother's "ungodly" (in the best way possible) set of lips (behind which are some pretty big, shiny white teeth), which start off smiles or scowls or what-have-you a tad crooked, snarling. His lower lip takes a lot of abuse, too, sucked and pinned habitually between his teeth. His dress is pretty nondescript, predictable: decent button-downs, mostly neutral colors, some of them with interesting embroidery or a pattern; nice jeans, maybe pants; boots and a Stetson. He admits to the pleasures of wearing something that looks good, but doesn't really fuss about his wardrobe beyond their being clean at the start of the day (or for a special occasion) and functional throughout. Pleasant holds himself well, usually, but has a habit of slouching.
Markings>> Plenty, although the only one of any special note is his half-crippled right hand. He ran it through with an old hunting knife on a bet (playing the "Knife Game," naturally) and it hasn't been the same, since--only partially functional, he can clench it well enough, but it won't open up all the way. Pleasant isn't especially affected by the damage these days, excepting that he isn't so readily persuaded to needlessly jeopardize the function of either of his hands. He adapted to the dominant use of the left one, and life went on.
But I’ve gotta let it go
Medical History>> Plenty. He got just about anything (and into just about everything) a kid could get, and then some, given that he was reared half-wild with a couple of older brothers. Even so, Pleasant's fortunate in that he is and always has been a pretty robust fella, health-wise. He's still kickin' up some dust, ain't he?
Criminal History>> Aggravated Battery, almost ten years ago, for which he spent two and a half years in a Georgia cell and three more reporting to a parole officer, afterwards. Speeding tickets, write-ups for faulty lights on his otherwise reliable old Dodge pickup. One DUI, more than five years ago. Truthfully speaking, Pleasant's gotten away with more "crimes" (mostly harmless mischief, but then there was his notorious temper that married his inherent thirst for liquid fire, back when he was younger, dumber, and painfully under-stimulated in a Deep South town) than he's been caught and punished for--listen, he ain't proud of that or anything, honest!
... Okay, so maybe he is, a little. Get a load of that turd's face.
Full History>> Pleasant Redford Spence is the third and youngest of four boys (the eldest, Red Hartford, deceased before Pleasant's time) by Mr. and Mrs. George Elwood and Tina May Spence. He was born in some podunk place in central Georgia, but he and his (surviving) brothers, Vernon Grover and Foster Forrest, grew up in various places, spanning from other states that make up the Deep South all the way to Oregon (and back). Later in life, the boys grew wise to their father's condition--a schizophrenic Vietnam veteran with delusions of high adventure, grandeur and paranoia--which was a driving force behind these excurions, and their mother's inability to call him out on it, for whatever reason (dim-wittedness, denial, lovesickness). But they had fun while it lasted, and when they weren't having fun, they were learning, at least.
As boys, Pleasant and his brothers lived it up like real Tom Sawyers. They always had the run of whatever rural community, shabby suburb or trailer park that they were staying in at the time. He was close to and protected by "Vern" and "Fossy," and although they all had their fair share of petty sibling squabbles and trying to see how long any one of them could go without acknowledging the others, the Spence boys were tight-knit and always there for one another when it really counted. They owned the dustiest roads, the muddiest red claybeds and the slowest rivers to float on. They were kings of mobile homes, ancient farmhouses, crumbling pueblos, candy stores, drugstores, bad burger joints, movie houses, schoolyards and whatever beat up piece of shit of a vehicle their dad was raving about at any point in time. Their Ma cooked, sang, danced, and loved all of them equally. Their Dad told loud, hilarious stories and even spooks around fires, dressed them up like "real" Cowboys, taught them all how to shoot and even gave them moonshine when it was too hot, or there was too much electricity in the air, to sleep. They were allowed to run naked and wild, and the Spence boys had more "elective courses" and "field days" hosted by their all-knowing Papa than any other poor sap sitting at a desk in school. Those days Pleasant recalls with particular fondness and pride, even though he understands that the lifestyle was plenty flawed.
Pleasant spent the later years of his adolescence in another small town in Georgia, only this one was the birthplace of his father, and it's where they went when George's mind really started to go. This small town was fed heartily enough by tourism from a nearby plantation estate, which his father's mother's family serviced with carriage tours. Granny Gladys was a formidable horsewoman, of a long line of horse people, and she was also a formidable lady in general. Pleasant was the only boy left in the company of his mother and father by that time--Vern had disappeared, while Foster was getting a slap on the wrist and thinking about his poor choices in a county jail somewhere. She took him under her wing, and it wasn't long before the remainder of his school years were being punctuated by serious barn work and learning how to drive a team of horses for the career he would have with the company when he'd come of age. It was good for him. He didn't have time to sit around and be sad, or angry, about the fate of his family.
Pleasant managed to graduate from his new local school, and spent the summer after that helping his cousins get used to working legitimately for the carriage company. All was well and steady until George Elwood decided to up and vanish. Tina May went mad after a few days. She told Pleasant that she loved him, packed her things and headed back to that podunk little place where he was born to languish in her sister's house. He was so angry that he fled, too, with some highschool friends bound for Jacksonville, Florida. Last he heard, his father was found dead in a field just outside of town, in the family's car. His mother never went back to that town by the plantation, though, and Pleasant ended up working for another driving tour company in St. Augustine, Florida.
It didn't last, though, because when Grandma Gladys got sick and he got a call from his cousins, Pleasant tore his ass back up to that Georgia plantation town and stuck with them, working, making up for his rash behavior and helping to care for the woman until she boarded the chariot home. She left him a whole carriage and the pair of drivers he'd been working with, along with a little sum of savings, which was more than he'd ever had to his own name in his entire life, and he didn't take it for granted.
Since all of that, Pleasant and his team have hauled their asses over their fair share of hills, so to speak. He stuck with the family company, which transferred in large to an uncle, for a while--until he ended up in jail for the first (and only, unlike Foster, last he heard) time, a time during which the poor economy sucked it under and scattered ties. Devastated and feeling quite like there was little left for him in that plantation town, upon finishing his sentence, Pleasant took his money, recovered his team from his closest cousin, Amber Leigh (who'd convinced her father to let him board them on their property until he was released and back on his feet), and beat it out of Georgia.
Pleasant ended up in Charleston, South Carolina, for a good chunk of time, where he worked as a tour driver and kept himself afloat with a myriad of other lesser occupations. Unlike his parents, he turned out to be pretty darn smart with money. He put away more than he put out (for himself, at least--his team of horses were absolutely spoiled as it was possible to be at the time), kept mostly to himself and had a bad habit of drinking himself to sleep when he wasn't swamped with work. The only time he ever really made a significant purchase was when he lost his old gelding, "Evinrude," and went out of his way to find another driver to improve both his and his remaining mare's mood. When he decided that the big, crowded-but-lonely places were never going to make him happy, he took his team and started hitting the smaller stars that dot his grimy and faded old road atlas. He spent a bit of time in each one he chose, but nothing really warranted too hard of a hit on the brake pedal until he found that he may just be experienced enough to take up a teaching gig.
To his credit, Pleasant has always been adamant about bettering himself, at least when it comes to his interests and chosen field. He's always building up his own experience, taking refresher courses, collaborating with other professionals and earning his certification. He's kind of fallen in love with Blue Ridge, Kentucky, and the idea that maybe he can be to some young'ns what his Grandma Gladys was to him. There's no telling, but maybe he'll stop running himself to death and stick around for a little while.
We found love in a hopeless place
